Ladies: worried about 'having it all'? You should be

Ambitious young women today should find it easier than ever to balance a
career and motherhood by the time they get around to having children.
However, because the Government lacks a decent childcare policy, many women
will end up staying at home unnecessarily because it doesn’t pay to work,
writes Dalia Ben-Galim.

Saffy, the studious daughter of Eddy, in hit TV show Absolutely Fabulous (pictured here with glasses on), would have less chance of 'having it all' today - despite increasing opportunities for women.Photo: BBC

For families with children, the constant juggle of work and care is simply a reality. But this is also becoming a hypothetical juggle for women (and some men) in their 20s and 30s who don’t have kids yet. Many of these women have watched their mums trying to ‘have it all’ and are not convinced that the fight is worth it.

InIPPR (the Institute for Public Policy Research) research to be published next month, we spoke to women across three generations. We heard about the day-to-day experiences of life, what has changed and remained the same for families over the last 50 years. Although many of the grannies worked, in general their traditional role of mother and wife was clearly defined. For their daughters, coming of age in the 1970s, there was more diversity. With wider university access and higher career aspirations, many had opportunities that their mothers could have only dreamt of. Expectations – especially at work were more ambitious – with many aiming to climb the career ladder. Some managed to break through the ‘glass ceiling’ but others found it impossible to ‘have it all’. As one 49 year old mum said; ‘If you chose to get married and have children something has to give, you can’t have it all, or you can but the cost is very high.’

For this generation of young women, there is more ambiguity. Girls are outperforming boys at school and at university and the gender pay gap has almost disappeared for women in their 20s. Arguably, it is easier for women to succeed in today’s workplace compared to previous generations. Whereas gender is less of a barrier at the start of the modern woman’s career, as parenthood emerges as a possibility, it starts to feel like a potential limiting factor, with the lines between motherhood and worker being more blurred. The lack of flexible work, the low-paid nature of part-time work and the high cost of childcare are real concerns. And many become aware of the ‘motherhood pay penalty’ with mums earning less than women without children and less than dads. We cannot ignore the lack of affordable childcare provision or the gender pay gap.

Childcare costs are high in the UK: the cost of a nursery place has increased by six per cent in the last yearand a dual-earner couple on average wage with two children will spend 27 per cent of their net family income on childcare (higher than any other OECD country except for Switzerland). Availability can be patchy and quality variable. There are indeed different choices for families depending on their income, work patterns and parental preferences. There is strong evidence showing that high quality early years services can have beneficial outcomes for children in their development and learning. In considering how to pay for additional provision,IPPR analysis shows that universal childcare can generate a return to the exchequer in terms of tax revenue by boosting maternal employment rates.

So while the Coalition parties negotiate, families will continue to juggle family life and paid work in the best way they can. Many will take the choice of the traditional gender roles - of the male bread-winner and the part-time working mum or stay-at–home mum - not because they want to but because it is the only way to make their household budget add up. Younger women may delay starting a family, not because they want to but because they feel they have to.